Five Talents celebrates 10 years at Lambeth Conference: July 21-27, 2008

It was a great privilege to celebrate 10 years of Five Talents by attending the first week of the Lambeth Conference in late July. In 1998, Five Talents was commended by resolution to begin work in the field of microcredit. I am told that during that Lambeth more than 200 bishops and their wives gathered at a reception to launch Five Talents. As the story goes, one bishop’s wife challenged the organizers by saying, “We are tired of talk. This better be about action.”

It is safe to say we have responded to the challenge of the bishop’s wife. We are now helping 20,000 clients through 14 programs in 10 countries.

At this year’s Lambeth, we did our best to communicate this message through workshops, receptions and conversations. In the end, we talked to more than 100 bishops and their spouses about the work of Five Talents – and our mission to fight poverty, create jobs and transform lives – as they stopped by our exhibit in the conference’s marketplace.

One of the highlights for me came on Tuesday when, along with Five Talents UK Director Tom Sanderson, I gave a workshop on the practices and principles of church-based microenterprise development. The first session was attended by 25 of the bishops’ spouses. Rebecca Scruton, the wife of Bishop Gordon Scruton of the Diocese of Western Massachusetts and a Five Talents International board member, gave a wonderful introduction to the session. Dr. Maria Akrofi, the wife of Archbishop of West Africa Justice Akrofi, gave the closing remarks. We also were blessed to have Jane Williams, wife of Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, attend the session. BBC Radio also covered the workshop as part of a story on the bishop’s spouses. (Photo above, left to right: Tom Sanderson, Dr. Maria Akrofi, Jane Williams and Craig Cole. Photo by Scott Gunn/ACNS)

Following the spouses workshop, 15 bishops, including one from Zambia, several from Sudan and others from Tanzania, came for a second session. Bishop Scruton gave the opening remarks commenting on the need for the church to remain focused on the poor.

On Thursday, I participated in the Walk of Witness Against Global Poverty with hundreds of bishops, faith leaders and executives from non-governmental organizations. The walk started at Whitehall, went past Parliament and finished at Lambeth Palace. It was an extraordinary event that ended with speeches by Archbishop of Canterbury Williams and UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown.

Later in the day – in an entirely different setting – I had tea with the Queen of England at Buckingham Palace along with more than 650 Anglican bishops and other dignitaries. Although I was not chosen to meet her personally, it was an incredible experience to stroll through the magnificent gardens behind the palace out of view from the busy Victoria section of London.

Throughout the week, we handed out invitations to a reception we were hosting on Saturday evening. We were thrilled to have 50 bishops and their spouses attend. (I was told by the event organizers that this was one of the better crowds for this type of event.) Bishop Simon Chiwanga, pictured left, one of the driving forces behind Five Talents and its first international chairman, gave an eloquent speech about the origins of Five Talents and why the church must be involved in alleviating poverty in a dignified way. His words were a resounding amen to all of our activities, which culminated in having the Five Talents display at the entrance of Canterbury Cathedral during the Sunday services.

Lambeth 2008 marks a milestone in the history of Five Talents, but it is just that – a marker along the road. As we look to the future, we continue to hear and to heed the same call – to stop talking and take action.

Reflections by Craig Cole, Five Talents International Executive Director